The room was heavy with silence.
Morning light streamed through the hospital windows. Dust danced in the golden beams. Outside, the city hummed with life. People walked. Cars moved. The world had no idea what was happening inside this small room.
Arjuna stood by the window, his back to everyone. The two black suit men stood near the door, motionless. Veda's mother sat on the edge of the hospital bed, her hands twisted in her lap.
Veda sat on the bed. His body was still weak from waking up. His mind was sharp.
Arjuna turned. His eyes fixed on Veda.
"Where is my son?"
Veda looked back at him. "I am Veda Das. Your son."
Arjuna's jaw tightened. "I do not sense my son's soul energy inside you. You are not him."
Veda held his gaze. Inside his head, a storm raged. Should he tell them about the Heavenly Lord, about the other universe, about the deaths? If he told them, they would get involved. They would die again.
His eyes moved. Slowly. Carefully. He scanned every corner of the room. Under the bed. Behind the curtain. The ceiling. The shadows by the door.
Where are you, Young Veda?
Nothing. Just the dust. Just the morning sun.
The man standing to Arjuna's right spoke. His voice was flat, like a machine reading a report.
"Commander, the medical report confirms he attempted to connect with an Angel and failed. It is likely his soul was swapped or possessed during the process. He is acting like your son, but the energy signature is completely wrong."
Arjuna walked toward Veda. Slow. Deliberate. He stopped inches from the bed. His hand reached out. Touched Veda's face. His fingers were cold.
"I gave everything," Arjuna said quietly. "My knowledge. My resources. My time. I built him to be the strongest. And now everything is dust."
He laughed. A small, heavy sound. No joy.
"I lost my position in the family for being weak. Now I have lost my child too. What a waste."
He tapped his sword against his own head. Looked at the ceiling.
"Maybe heaven truly cursed my life."
His mother stood up. Her voice cracked.
"Stop this, Arjuna! This happened because you gave him that scroll! I told you every day to stop!"
Arjuna turned to her. His eyes were cold. "So you also know he is not your son."
She did not answer. Tears fell.
Veda clenched his fists. The time for silence was over.
"I AM TELLING THE TRUTH! I AM VEDA DAS! YOUR SON!"
He did not finish.
The man to Arjuna's right moved.
Time seemed to slow. One second he was by the door. The next, he was in front of Veda. His fist was already swinging.
Veda's eyes flickered. His arms came up. Blocked.
The impact was thunder.
Veda flew backward. The hospital bed flipped. The window behind him exploded into a million glass shards. He crashed through the wall, plaster, wood, concrete, and kept going.
The doctor and nurse who had been standing near the door screamed. The nurse dropped her clipboard. The doctor grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the hallway, his face pale.
"Call security!" the doctor shouted.
People in the hallway heard the explosion. Patients poked their heads out. A woman in a blue gown covered her mouth. A man grabbed his wife and pulled her back. Footsteps pounded. Someone yelled "Run!" The hallway became a river of panicked bodies.
Veda flew through the air. The world spun. He hit the parking lot outside. His body slammed into a white sedan. The roof caved in. The windows shattered. The alarm screamed.
His mother's scream came from the broken hole in the hospital wall. "VEDA!"
The black suit man landed on the hood of another car. The metal folded under his feet. He grabbed a parked motorcycle and hurled it at Veda. Veda rolled. The motorcycle flew past him and crashed into a truck, exploding into flames.
People in the parking lot ran. A mother grabbed her child. An old man left his walker behind. Tires screeched. Car alarms blared.
Veda got to his feet. Bleeding. Torn.
The black suit man grabbed a small hatchback. Lifted it above his head like it was cardboard. And threw it.
Veda sprinted. The car spun past him, missing by inches, crashing into the hospital wall and embedding itself halfway inside.
Veda turned. Ran at the man.
The man punched. Veda ducked. The man's fist slammed into a concrete pillar. The pillar exploded. Dust and debris rained down.
Veda kicked the man's knee. The leg bent sideways with a wet crack. The man did not scream. He grabbed Veda's ankle. Lifted him. Slammed him into the ground. The earth cracked.
Veda gasped. Blood filled his mouth.
From the broken wall above, Arjuna watched. His face was stone.
The other black suit man stood beside Arjuna, massive sword on his back.
Arjuna's eyes narrowed. "How interesting. He knows how to move. What kind of kick was that?"
The black suit man with the sword nodded. Then vanished.
He appeared behind Veda. Sword already swinging.
Veda sensed it. Turned. His hand shot out. Not to block. To punch.
His fist hit the flat of the blade. His hand glowed. Red and gold. Fire like energy erupted from his knuckles.
The man flew backward. Sword spinning. He crashed into a pile of rubble.
Veda looked at his hand. The glow faded.
Arjuna's voice came from above. "He is not my son. But he can still use my son's power." A pause. "I have never seen a possessing soul do that. The energy from that punch is purer than my son's ever was."
The first black suit man got up. His leg was broken. He limped toward Veda.
The second man crawled out of the rubble. His arm hung loose. He picked up his sword with the other hand.
They attacked together.
Veda dodged. Blocked. Punched. Kicked. A sword cut his arm. A fist slammed into his back. He stumbled. Blood flew.
His leg buckled. One knee hit the ground.
The two men closed in.
The first man raised his fist to smash Veda's head.
Then the air changed.
A light flickered from the hospital building. White. Bright. Cold. It spread like dawn breaking over a frozen sea.
Veda's mother appeared. Not from the wall. From nowhere. She stood between Veda and the first man. Her hair was white. Pure white, floating around her head. Her eyes glowed with white fire. In her left arm, she held Veda's body. In her right hand, a thin long white sword made of light.
The first man's fist was still mid swing.
Her sword moved. The man's body split in half. Clean. Perfect. Blood sprayed. The two halves fell.
The second man, holding his big sword, stared. He saw her holding Veda with one arm and the white sword with the other. He stepped back. He raised his blade to block.
She vanished.
He moved his face to dodge. Too slow. Her sword passed through his neck. His head flew sideways, spinning through the air, eyes still open. His body stood for a moment, then collapsed.
Veda stared.
His mother looked down at him. Her white hair floated. Her eyes burned. But her face was soft.
She knelt. Held him tighter.
The white light did not fade. She looked up at Arjuna, who stood frozen in the broken wall above.
"I told you to stop," she said. Her voice was calm. Final. "Why did you not listen?"
Arjuna's cold mask cracked. He looked at her. Then at Veda.
"She broke the seal," he whispered.
His hand tightened on his sword. Then loosened.
He looked at Veda. At the blood. At the cuts. At the way the boy still held his mother's hand.
"We will see," Arjuna said.
He turned. He vanished into the morning light.
The white light faded from his mother's hair. It turned black again. Her eyes returned to normal. The sword disappeared.
She collapsed to her knees, still holding Veda.
"Beta," she whispered. "I am sorry. I am so sorry."
Veda looked up at her. His vision was blurry. His body was broken. But he saw her face. Her tears.
He touched her cheek.
"Maa."
She held him tighter.
On the hospital roof, Young Veda floated. His face was unreadable.
He watched the woman hold the man.
"Interesting," he whispered. "Very interesting."
He faded into the light.